“SETTING UP OF THE ABOMINATION THAT MAKETH DESOLATE” 4TH-5TH CENTURIES. THE CHURCH’S ROLE IN A COLLAPSING EMPIRE.

“The Papacy was concerned with holding the Church together and protecting it from the invading barbarians. During the course of these invasions, both the popes and the bishops in the Roman Empire found themselves acquiring property and power by default as the Roman administration collapsed. This fusion of ecclesiastical and political functions in the bishops’ hands led to serious problems in the Middle Ages … By the 5th century the pope was the largest landowner in Italy.” (Collier’s Encyclopedia, 1975 edition, “Papacy,” Vol. 18, p. 400)

445 AD

The Roman bishop gains prestige. “[In] 445 AD [the Emperor] Valentinian III issued a law by which the Roman bishop was declared the supreme head of the Western Church. This law gave for its reasons – the primacy of Peter, the dignity of the city [of Rome], and the decree of a holy synod. Resistance to the authority of the Roman bishop was affirmed to be an offence against the Roman state.” (History, of the Christian Church, George P. Fisher, p. 107)

476 AD

Fall of the Western Empire. (1st horn of Daniel 7:8) “When and how did Rome fall? The first term in the title of Gibbon’s famous work was more appropriate than the second. After the division of the empire and the removal of the seat of its western part from the city of Rome, there was a long decline – an evaporation of authority, a sinking of its vitality, the gradual fading and ultimate disappearance of its apparatus of government.  Though moribund, it still drew a labored breath after the raid on Rome by Alaric the Goth (410). The invasion of Italy by Attila the Hun (452) left the Western empire virtually unconscious. It died in a coma a few years later, though already it had practically ceased to exist. When the insignificant Romulus Augustulus was deposed (476), there was no longer even a titular emperor. The ghost of the Western empire -feeble even for a ghost- was the shadowy claim of the Eastern emperor at Constantinople to the allegiance of the barbarian chiefs who exercised independent military control in Italy, Gaul, Spain, and North Africa. The only part of that claim that ever had any historical reality was the Eastern emperor’s exarchate at Ravenna.” (20 Centuries of Christianity: A Concise History, Paul Hutchinson and Winfred E. Garrison, p. 93)

A conglomeration of barbaric Germanic tribes, including the Heruli, Sciri, Rugii, and others, which once had acknowledged the rule of Attila, swept down into Italy.

“By 476 AD, [Odovacer or Odoacer] had evidently distinguished himself sufficiently to be readily chosen as their king.” [The new invaders demanded a third of Italy; when I refused, they at once slew Orestes, the Roman general, and deposed his son Romulus Augustulus as emperor.] “It is indeed a new and important fact, that after 476 AD there was no Western Emperor until the year 800 [at the coronation of Charlemagne], and it must be admitted that the absence of any separate Emperor of the West vitally affected both the history of the Teutonic tribes and the development of the Papacy, during those three centuries.” (The Cambridge Medieval History, edited by H. M. Gwatkin and J. P. Whitney, “Italy and the West, 410-476 AD,” by Ernest Barker in Volume 111, pp. 430-431.)

“[Pope Simplicius’] pontificate [468-483 AD] saw the disappearance of the Western Roman empire. The boy emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed in 476 [by Odoacer]; no successor to him was nominated and when the barbarian patricius Odoacer [the title of ‘patrician’ was given by the Byzantine emperor], the real master of Italy, sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople, the Eastern emperor seemed to have become the sole rightful sovereign of the Roman world. This elimination of the imperial power in the West served perforce to enhance the prestige of the papacy throughout that half of the world, where it had begun to emerge as the focus of authority ever since Constantine had left Rome for Constantinople.” (Enciclopedia Britannica, 1972 edition, “Papacy,” Vol. 17, p. 243)

493 AD

The Ostrogoth king defeats Odovacar. (2nd horn of Daniel 7:8) “[Emperor] Zeno … pleased that Theodoric should go into Italy … sent him to attack Odovacar … In 488 AD Theodoric crossed the frontier at the head of his Goths; it was the first step in the conquest which took five years to complete … The conquest of Italy was practically achieved between 490 and 493; … with the capitulation of Odovacar, which took place at this latter date, the victory of Theodoric was complete.” (The Cambridge Medieval History, “The Kingdom of Italy under Odovacer and Theodoric,” by Maurice Dumoulin, Volume 111, pp. 438-439)

“In 489 … [the Bizantine Emperor] Zeno sent another barbarian against -[Odoacer], Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths. Theodoric defeated Odoacer (493 AD), established himself in Italy, and lived for several periods in Rome. (Encil. Brit., 1972, “Rome,” Vol. 19, p. 582)

533 AD

Roman bishop acknowledged as head of all the churches. “Pope John II, a Roman by birth succeeded Boniface II in the Roman see in 532 AD The Emperor Justinian, in a letter addressed to him  shortly after his accession [533], after earnest assurances of his endeavor to unite the Western and Eastern churches, makes full confession of superior power belonging to the Roman hierarchy, designating him as “the head of the holy Church.”‘ (Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, John McClintock and James Strong, “Pope John II,” Vol. IV, p. 978)

534 AD

Emperor sends army to defeat Ostrogoths. “Amalasuntha, daughter of Theodoric … [proposed] to [Emperor] Justinian the conquest of Italy (534 AD) . . .” [The Ostrogoths, who were Arians and did not recognize the Roman bishop as the supreme pontiff, were then in control of Rome and the capital city of Italy, Ravenna. Accordingly, the emperor dispatched General Belisarius with an army to vanquish the Ostrogoths.]

“[In] 535 AD… Belisarius landed in Sicily and occupied it, hardly needing to strike a blow … Greeted by the Italian people as a liberator, [he] in turn seized Naples and occupied Rome unopposed (536 AD)…” (The Cambridge Medieval History, “Justinian. The Imperial Restoration in the West,” by Charles Diehl, Vol. II, pp. 14-15)

539 AD

Ostrogoth kingdom (3rd horn of Daniel 7:8 defeated at Faventia. “The imperialists [under Belisarius] besieged it [Ravenna, the capital of Italy] [at the] end of 539 AD. For six months the Ostrogoths held out [before capitulating in 540].” (But see Gibbon’s note, 2nd paragraph following.) (The Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 11, pp. 15-16)

“Justinian sent an army to destroy the Gothic monarchy and restore Italy to the empire. The Goths at length … offered to transfer their allegiance to [General] Belisarius on condition of his assuming the diadem of the Western Empire. Belisarius dallied with the proposal until he had obtained an entrance within the walls of the capital and proclaimed his inviolable fidelity to Justinian (539 AD).” (Ency. Brit., 1962, “Ravenna,” Vol. 18, p. 999)

“The day of the surrender of Ravenna was stipulated by the Gothic ambassadors: … the gates were opened to the fancied king of Italy; and Belisarius, without meeting an enemy, triumphantly marched through the streets of an impregnable city.” [A footnote here states: “Ravenna was taken, not in the year 540, but in the latter end of 539; and Pagi (tom. ii. p. 569) is rectified by Muratori, (Annali d’Italia, tom. v. p. 62) who proves from an original act on papyrus (Antiquit. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. ii. dissert. xxxii. p. 999-1007) Maffei, (Istoria Diplomat. p. 155-160) that before the third of January, 540, peace and free correspondence were restored between Ravenna and Faenza.”] (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Vol. IV, p. 180)

554 AD

Pope’s temporal authority confirmed. (Rise of the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8) [During the reign of Pope Vigilius (537-555 AD), Emperor Justinian issued a “pragmatic sanction” of the papacy:] “By this act, the emperor acknowledged, confirmed and increased the temporal power of the pope, who was henceforth to have a voice in the nomination of the governors of the Italian provinces of the empire and to participate in the control of their finances.  The pope became the official protector of the civil population against the depredations of the military, against extortion by the tax collectors, and against abuse of power by the administration.” (Ency. Brit., 1972, “Papacy,” Vol. 17, p. 244)

556 AD

Pope’s temporal authority enforced. “[Pelagius I succeeded Vigilius as pope, and he] made resolute use of the pope’s new rights, organizing the temporal government of the territory over which he was actually sovereign and setting the papacy on the road to real political power. This power was to grow so rapidly that Gregory the Great [590-604 AD] could write, a few years later: ‘I should like to know whether the pope, in this world, is a spiritual leader or a temporal king.’ (Ency. Brit., 1972, “Papacy,” Vol. 17, p. 244)

SUMMARY

“After the downfall of the Western Roman empire the political influence of the popes in Italy became of still more importance, from the fact that the popes had to take under their protection the unfortunate country, but particularly Rome and its environs, which were so often changing masters and continually exposed to the invasions of coarse and brutal conquerors. While the successors of St. Peter were so energetically interesting themselves in the welfare of the inhabitants of Italy, the latter were totally neglected by the Eastern Roman emperors who still laid claim to rule the land. Even after Justinian I had reconquered a part of Italy [AD 539] and converted it into a Grecian province, the lot of the inhabitants was no better; for the Byzantine emperors could only exhaust by taxation ‘the subjects of the Exarchate of Ravenna, but in no way could they afford her the necessary protection.

Under these circumstances it happened that the … emperors … lost all actual power, and remained only in name masters of the government, while the popes, in virtue of the needs of the moment, came practically in possession of that supremacy over the Roman domain … This spontaneous result of generous exertion was in after times acknowledged as a lawful acquisition [by Pepin and Charlemagne] … In this legitimate way, the temporal power and sovereignty of the popes was … gradually established.” (The History of the Catholic Church, H. Brueck, Vol. 1, pp. 250-251)

– Contributed

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